How behaviours are influenced by perceived norms: a test of the Theory of Normative Social Behaviour

Normative restructuring strategies currently under way to combat alcohol-related problems among U.S. college students are based on the idea that stu-dents harbor inflated perceptions about the prevalence of drinking on campus and that if these misperceptions can be corrected, then alcohol consumption will decrease. Evidence for the effectiveness of these strategies is lacking, and there is little discussion in the literature about how or why people’s nor-mative beliefs exert influence on their behaviors. The theory of normative social behavior that is proposed in this article includes three mechanisms— injunctive norms, outcome expectations, and group identity—that are hypoth-esized to moderate the influence of descriptive norms on behavior. This theory is tested through a survey (N = 1,352) conducted among incoming college stu-dents. Although all normative mechanisms predicted behavioral intention, four of the six variables also interacted with descriptive norms to influence intention, with relatively smaller effects. Overall, the model was able to pre-dict 63 % of the variance in intention to consume alcohol. Implications for health campaigns are discussed